By PAUL GRONDAHL Staff writer

Updated 9:33 pm, Saturday, June 11, 2011

ALBANY -- The body discovered by kayakers Friday in the Hudson River was identified after an autopsy Saturday as Keith A. Rafferty, 28, one of two brothers from Troy who disappeared in November, Troy police said.

Detectives are investigating the mysterious deaths of the brothers, whose bodies were found 40 miles and four weeks apart. It remains unclear if foul play was involved or if they died accidentally, police said.

Keith Rafferty's badly decomposed body was found in a cove north of Henry Hudson Park in Bethlehem about 11 a.m. Friday. The body of his brother, Matthew Rafferty, 27, was pulled from the river by fishermen near Saugerties last month.

The two were last seen near 106th Street and Third Avenue in the city's Lansingburgh neighborhood last November.

An autopsy was completed Saturday afternoon at Albany Medical Center, but a cause of death has not yet been determined. Authorities have also not classified the deaths in terms of whether criminal activity was involved.

Troy detectives continue to investigate the activities of the Rafferty brothers before their disappearance last fall.

The brothers' father, Gary Rafferty, of Troy, said their disappearance was out of character. He told the Times Union that the brothers were close and that Matthew had returned from Michigan and was working at Dinosaur Bar-B-Que in Troy.

"We're all very shocked by this. It's tough," said a Dinosaur Bar-B-Que manager, who asked that his name not be used. He said Matthew Rafferty worked at the restaurant and bar at the time of his disappearance, but company policy prevented him from commenting further.

Keith Rafferty's wife, Tanya, said she last saw the men about 10 p.m. Nov. 18 when they left the house and were going to the store. The couple have a 4-year-old daughter and Keith had two stepdaughters.

"This is not like them," the wife said when they went missing. She said her husband suffered from separation anxiety disorder, which can bring about severe anxiety and fear following separation from loved ones.